Game
by 9angel9
Summary: What will happen when our favorite students and staff are abducted and dropped into the middle of nowhere with no explanation? Things just keep getting weirder as they run into a certain serpent witch. Can they trust what she has to say or is it all an elaborate hoax? Who brought them all the way out here & just what sort of twisted game is this that they have found themselves in?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I apologize in advance for the brevity of the chapters, they should eventually get longer.**

 **(Eventual SteinxMedusa, I have slight a problem)**

Maka and Soul hurriedly raced to meet their friends in front of the new arcade and restaurant in town. The group of friends had planned to go for lunch and check out the new place. The boys had been overly excited about the idea of gaming and eating while the girls were more or less just dragged along because their partners were going and food didn't sound too bad. Maka and Soul were the last of the friends to arrive due to Maka making the mistake of letting Blair try to help her get ready. By this point the girl was convinced that taking any advice from the magical cat was a bad idea.

"Hey! What took so long?" Black Star asked Soul without even bothering with a greeting. "We've been waiting for like ten minutes now!" The hyper ninja was rather impatient.

Soul shrugged, "Maka took a while getting ready." The weapon smirked and Maka's cheeks flushed red in anger and embarrassment.

"You're the one who spent half an hour fixing his hair!" She exclaimed loudly in frustration, directing some of the blame away from herself. She never did understand her partner's obsession with his hair.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt," Tsubaki quietly interjected, "but shouldn't there be more people here?"

When the last of their friends had arrived, the group had entered the establishment. Upon the taller girl's comment, the others paused, looking around as though they were just noticing how empty the place was. "It did just open… you have a point Tsubaki; something doesn't feel right." Maka replied looking around warily. "Let's get out of here," Maka suggested turning and walking to the door. She moved to open the door but it didn't budge. She tried again, tugging the handle harder to no avail.

Black Star pushed her aside. "Let the Great Black Star handle this!" He exclaimed and gave a mighty jerk on the handle, only succeeding in ripping the handle off the door.

"Great, you broke it!" Liz snipped in annoyance and fright. "Now we're stuck in here!"

"Maybe there's another exit?" Tsubaki suggested helpfully and Maka nodded.

They spread out, looking about the place for another exit. They re-grouped after about 15 minutes. "Did anybody find anything?" Maka asked, the group shaking their head in disappointment. Suddenly there was a hissing noise and a strange smell in the room. A thick fog began to cover the floor like smoke, creeping down the walls from the vents. Maka tried to say something but it was too late as her vision became blurry and she fought to keep her balance, she heard the others coughing before she collapsed and the world faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2

Stein walked down the hall, running into Sid and Nygus. They exchanged a nod in greeting and continued through the double-doors to the meeting. Upon entering the room, he spied Marie and Spirit chatting in a friendly fashion, turning to greet the newly arrived staff.

"So, what's this meeting about?" Marie asked looking at Stein, who raised a brow.

"I don't know, who called the meeting?" He inquired with interest and Marie looked confused.

"I thought you called the meeting..." She said perplexedly. " But if you didn't, then who did?"

The others in the room exchanged looks "This is starting to feel a lot like a set up. Does anyone know who actually called the meeting?" Nygus spoke up surprising the others. Gas was pumped into the room much like the way it had been at the arcade, though the staff had no knowledge of the student's fate. The members of the group were dropping like flies before anyone was able to attempt escape. Stein pounded weakly on the door, sliding down it slowly, clinging to his last shred of consciousness before the black closed in.


	3. Chapter 3

Medusa slunk down the dark alleyways between buildings, pausing and waiting for her child. He was late. That in itself was odd and put her in a bad mood. She frowned and glanced around warily. _This had better not be an ambush or there'll be hell to pay,_ she thought to herself. Deciding to come back later, she began to walk out of the alley when she felt a familiar madness wavelength wash over her. The witch halted in her tracks, knowing immediately who it was. "Azura..." She turned and blocked as he swung at her. She dodged a swing aimed at her face and kicked the back of his legs, forcing him down onto his knees. Azura struggled as she leapt on his back and put him in a choke-hold. He stood and threw them back into a wall. A strangled wheeze squeezed out of her lungs as she was crushed between the strangely scrawny yet muscular man and the rough brick wall. The impact momentarily stunned her and her grip loosened enough for him to barely slip out of her grasp. He whipped around to face her, sending a flood of bandages.

She snarled and carefully dodged the incoming bandages. She cursed inwardly, knowing she couldn't fight with her magic without releasing her soul protect. While the kishin may have been able to get away with flooding the city with his wavelength, if she were to release her own wavelength it would draw much more unwanted attention to her. A scowl settled heavily on her lips. He lashed out with his bandages. However, instead of aiming to pierce her, he encased her. The bandages encircled her from the knees to her throat. She tried to struggle out and cut away with her snakes but they abruptly pulled tight. The restraints grew tighter and tighter, slowly crushing her. A cry of pain broke free of her chest as the bandages reached the point of bruising. She felt her bones close to cracking and grit her teeth, glaring at him. The lanky man paced towards her incapacitated form as she writhed.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm the one who woke you up, you idiot." She growled at him defensively through clenched teeth. Her face was contorted into something between a mixture of agony and defiance.

"Were you? I suppose I should thank you then." He chuckled and, out of nowhere, the dark haired man leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on her lips.

Her eyes stretched wide in shock _. What in the actual fuck was that?_ "What are you-"

He toyed with a lock of her golden hair. "I apologize for this, but I'm merely following orders." By now the bandages wrapped around her were causing trouble breathing. She was wheezing, gasping for air as her bones cracked.

"W-What do you wan-nt?" She managed to squeeze out softly. The world around her was beginning to fade as her senses numbed and darkness crept into the edges of her vision.

Azura shrugged, "Well I suppose I should hurry this along." He spoke as though he hadn't heard her. "Sleep." She panicked as he closed her eyes and pressed two fingers down into a pressure point, darkness rushing in and consuming her.


	4. Chapter 4

When Maka and the others came-to the first thing she noted was the cool grass against her face. She groggily blinked open her eyes and ambled to her feet, immediately scanning the area around her. Taking in her new surroundings, she found they were in a forest with thick undergrowth and close trees. The members of the group groaned and griped for various reasons.

"Where are we?" Liz asked, looking around at the woodland. It appeared that the sun had just risen and civilization was nowhere in sight.

"I have no idea." Maka replied, helplessly shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm starving!" Soul complained as he got to his feet next to his meister.

Maka refrained from the urge to crack him over the head and instead focused on what they should do. Before she could speak, Tsubaki piped up from as she rose, dusting herself off.

"Perhaps if we pick a direction and start walking we could find someone to help us." The dark haired girl suggested. The group nodded in agreement at the idea, deciding it was the best course of action.

"Alright everyone, let's get going." Maka announced and the group started moving. Black Star immediately began to argue with Maka over who was to be in charge, their quarreling trailing off into the distance.

o0o

When the professor woke, he found himself on the forest floor. He didn't recognize any of his surroundings. Glancing around at his fallen comrades, he reached out to the person closest to him, Sid. Grunting he clambered to his feet and reached out to his friend.

"Hey, get up." Shaking the man's shoulders managed to rouse him from his slumber.

The zombie blinked the sleep out of his eyes and a few other members of the group began to stir as well. Tired groans and complaints of headaches echoed through staff.

"What's going on Stein? Where are we?" The zombie questioned the scientist, but his friend could only shrug in response.

"I have no idea."

"How did we get all the way out here?" Marie asked in fright, looking worried at the sight of their surroundings. The dense undergrowth and wide tree trunks made it difficult to see far.

Spirit actually contributed something helpful for once. "I guess we should get moving and see if we can get to high ground or find someone to help." A murmur of agreement passed through the gathered DWMA members and they started off in a direction.


	5. Chapter 5

Her tortured groans echoed through the halls of the underground chamber. The room was dimly lit and she had long since lost all sense of time. How long had she been there? A few days? A week? The air had a musky odor and the stone structure was cool and wet. A low groan eked from her slightly parted lips. Another jolt of electricity ran through her body, tensing every muscle. Her teeth grit and her eyes rolled. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of crying.

"Getting used to this are we?" One of her captors teased from behind their mask and turned up the voltage. They had already been through water boarding her, whipping her, beating her with their fists, and now this. Hours of electrocution on and off. Finally, they switched off the current.

She grunted and slouched forward in the chair she was bound to. Panting, everything ached and hurt. She didn't bother giving an answer and the captor mused aloud about trying a new technique. Lifting her gaze to the masked figured as they moved forward and unlatched the restraints on her ankles and wrists. They drug her from the chair by her sore wrists. She bit her lip as their rough, gloved hands rubbed the raw and tender flesh. She was pulled down the hall to another room. They weren't giving her a break today.

Two more masked figures heaved her onto a lab table and strapped her down as she struggled vainly. "Let's see how you handle this one." One of them purred darkly.

Raising a brow, she watched as they cut away her top and picked up a ragged blade for added pain effect. They brought it down on her sides, dragging it slowly across the sides of her ribs. She moaned in discomfort and pain, but she could handle blades and brute force. Then she saw the bleach. A screech of anguish tore from her throat as they poured the substance into the freshly opened cuts. She writhed on the table, pulling at the restraints binding her wrists and ankles. Her tormentors laughed at her pain and poured more into cuts as they added them like stripes along her sides from her shoulder blades to her hips. Tears sprung to her eyes as she screamed and squirmed helplessly in pure agony. They proceeded to rub salt into the cuts on top of the bleach, adding a gritty feeling to the already burning wound. Darkness was beginning to creep into the edges of her vision as things started becoming hazy. She could no longer stand the torture, her body unable to cope with the stress, slipping into unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

As the students trudged on and the sun climbed higher into the sky the temperature rose. Sweating and tired, the group stopped to rest under the trees and cool off in the shade.

"I'm hungry." Patty pouted and looked to her sister. "Sis, do you have anything to eat?" The elder Thompson sister shook her head apologetically and the younger of the two sighed in disappointment.

Idle chit chat spread among the students as they leaned against the tree trunks. Suddenly, Maka felt familiar wavelengths wash over her faintly. They must have been a little way off but she knew that they were people the students knew.

"Hey, does anyone else feel that?" The meister asked, jumping to her feet. Everyone paused in their conversations to search.

"I feel it too." Tsubaki said and the Thompson sisters nodded in agreement.

"It kinda reminds me of the professor's wavelength." Soul commented as he focused, remembering how strong it had been the first time they had met the wacky doctor.

"Yeah!" Black Star shouted and shot up. "It's definitely him! I could recognize that soul a mile away!" The blue haired boy declared and raced off in the direction the wavelengths were coming from.

"Black Star! Wait! Don't just run off by yourself!" Tsubaki cried, chasing after the ninja. Soul took off after the pair and Maka followed after, Kid and the Thompson sisters following last.

o0o

The DWMA staff were trudging along under the beating sun when a set of oddly familiar wavelengths washed over them. The group halted in their tracks for a moment and began chattering about the souls they were sensing. Voices reached their ears and they turned in the direction the sound was coming from. Suddenly a kid with vibrant blue spiked hair burst out of the bushes with a shout.

"YAHOO!"

Some of the staff quickly dove out of the way as he barreled into the middle of the group. Not long after Black Star's arrival, Tsubaki, Soul, Maka, Kid, Liz, and Patty strode out of the undergrowth panting.

"Could ya not just take off like that?" Soul griped, snapping at his best friend who didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," The ninja waved him off. "Hey! Why are we all out here?" He asked looking at the group of instructors.

The adults appeared to be just as lost and confused as the students. Spirit noticed his daughter among the group of kids and rushed to hug her, only to be swatted away.

Sid was the one to answer the boy's question. "We don't know; we all just woke up here. How did you kids end up here?"

The students explained they had gone to the new arcade and restaurant in town. They had gotten trapped inside and knocked out by a mysterious gas. With surprise, the instructors relayed their similar experience at the staff meeting. They all agreed to travel together and search for a way out of the strange woodland. Luckily for the kids, their teachers had found food in their search and happily shared with the famished teens. After that the two groups headed out together.


	7. Chapter 7

She was tossed back into her cell with little regard and nothing to dress her wounds which continued to bleed profusely. The masked figures retreated, leaving her to rest for a while. Groaning in pain she pushed herself up once they were gone. While she may have been in complete and utter agony she knew better than to rest for long. She had managed to sneak a key off of one of them and prayed it was the one to her cell. To her satisfaction when she managed to drag herself to the cell door the key fit and the lock clicked. Hurriedly, she stumbled to her feet and wandered down the halls in search of an exit. She slunk along in the shadows. _There!_ A door with light streaming through could be seen at the end of the hall. Picking up the pace she rushed towards the door. As she reached it and began to fumble with the lock a shout echoed down the hall. _Shit._ They knew she was out. Finally, the locks clattered to the ground and with as much strength as she could muster, she threw the heavy wooden door open. Footsteps raced down the hall, steel toed boots clacking against the concrete floor.

"Hey! Get back here!" A gruff male voice demanded and she heard the sound of a gun cock.

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized he was armed. Adrenaline pounding, she spun around and scrambled up the stairs and out of the exit. Her pursuer popped off a couple shots in her direction, one of them hit her leg and she let out a cry. Biting her lip, she sprinted off as best as she could into the surrounding forest.

She was panting by this point. Blood left a path behind her and she back tracked and wound through the trees multiple times in confusing patterns to throw off those attempting to track her. She paused under a tree and moaned. There wasn't much she could do for her exposed torso that was riddled with open wounds, but she ripped off part of a pant leg to try and bind her leg. Hoping it would be enough to staunch the bleeding to not leave as much of a trail, she wandered between the wide trunks. Her sides were heaving when she slowed her pace to an even limp, glancing around. With much effort, she managed to scale a tree to sleep in for the evening, to rest and recover some strength.

The following morning, she awoke with a start. "Ahh…" She hissed as she sat up, glad she hadn't fallen from her perch on the branch in her sleep. Carefully wiggling down the tree she limped off through the woods, not really sure where to go. Anywhere was better than where she had been, she supposed. As she traveled she began to sense multiple wavelengths. Fearful, she watched her steps and kept a wary eye out for anyone. When the sound of people chattering reached her ears she realized she had gotten closer. Now the souls could be identified more clearly. They all felt familiar… members from the DWMA? She backed away but it was too late. One of them spoke loud enough that she could hear them.

"Hey do you feel that?"

"Yeah, I feel like I know that wavelength from somewhere…"

"Me too, I get a bad feeling from it though."

"We should check it out."

"Alright, we'll split into two groups."

"Works for me, let's go."

Panicked she took off in the opposite direction of the people. They would surely be the death of her, should they find her. There was no way she was in any kind of state to fight. The injections she had been given during her stay in the torture chamber had suppressed her powers and by default; her accelerated healing factors. The poison of a thing still ran through her veins, not out of her system yet. If she was caught by anyone it would surely mean her demise. As she continued weaving her way through the undergrowth the souls spread out. She cursed inwardly, constantly changing direction in hopes of evading discovery. To her dismay, the group gradually was closing in on her from different sides. She was so tired and sick of everything hurting she wanted to sit down and cry in frustration. Despite this, she refused to give up and yield to the inevitability of capture and push on. The cuts on her sides pulled open as she moved and she moaned in pain, one hand trying to staunch the bleeding.

The undergrowth ahead crackled with footsteps and she quickly hid behind a tree. She would have climbed and hid in the low boughs but couldn't muster the strength to do so. She held her breath as the people drew closer. One… two… three… four. Four sets of footsteps she counted. So they had split into more than two groups? There had been more than eight voices earlier, she was sure of it. An achingly familiar soul washed over her. It was him. What on _earth_ was he doing here? At least if she died she hoped it would be by his hand; he would make things interesting for sure. For some strange reason she couldn't bring herself to be upset by the idea. It was alright if it was him, but anyone else was out of the question entirely.

"It's really strong now, they've gotta be close." Maka's voice drifted over to her. The young scythe meister was here? Wonderful. She was fully aware the girl had a strong abhorrence for her. It almost made her laugh imagining the girl's face when they would be the ones to find her.

Another voice made her cringe. _Fuck._ Spirit was there too. It was safe to assume Soul was there as well, she could feel his black blood. The doctor paused near where she was hiding.

"There's fresh blood here." Stein announced. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. _Shit._ Had she bled through more without noticing? When she looked down, black droplets were scattered on the ground. She rested her head against the tree in defeat.

"Do you know who it is professor?" Maka inquired worriedly, curious as to why the man seemed so on edge.

"Possibly," He admitted to the inquisitive student. "Though for all our sakes I hope it's not who I think it is." They drew closer and closer to her hiding spot and she was sure they were following the blood trail she had left. They found the bloody hand print on a trunk. "That doesn't look very promising."

Her heart pounded in her chest. Between the pain, blood loss, power drain, and stress she was beginning to feel light headed and dizzy. _Keep yourself together._ She mentally scolded herself. _You can't pass out now._

Out of the corner of her eye she saw them pass her. The doctor paused and turned towards her, seeing her immediately. She looked at him in fear. A sheepish smile crept onto her lips as she put her hands up in a non-threatening manner, hands still covered in her own blood. The look of shock on the faces of the weapons and meisters was priceless. "Heh, nice to see you all again." She rasped out, throat raw and ragged from all the screaming.

They took a moment to take in her appearance. Her hair was disheveled and out of its usual braid, dark bruises covered her torso, arms, and legs. Lacerations from some sort of restraints ringed her wrists and ankles. Dark circles hung under her bloodshot eyes, a bruise on her cheek was accompanied by a cut and busted lip. She was shirtless in only a black bra that looked a little worse for wear, pants torn on one side and bound. Blood ran down her leg and her sides sported terrifyingly deep gashes along her ribs from the bottom of her shoulder blades the whole way down to her hips. Her skin was pale from malnourishment and blood loss. Overall, the witch looked more like a corpse by this point than a living person.

Maka, Spirit, and Soul were too stunned to speak, their jaws hanging agape. Stein broke the tense silence. "What happened to you? I would have thought you would be the one to set all of this up but by the looks of things I highly doubt it." His monotone voice was so refreshing to hear she smiled a little more. It was a relief to see him.

She blinked a few times as her vision began to grow fuzzy. "Shit." She cursed as she wobbled a little, bracing herself against the tree. "I-I-" Her eyes rolled back in her skull and she fought tooth and nail to pull herself out of the clutches of unconsciousness. She barely managed to evade passing out, swallowing thickly before speaking. "Evidently, someone has a pretty big grudge and a torture chamber at their disposal. I haven't the slightest clue what you mean about setting anything up but I assume you were most likely captured and dumped here? My tormentors made brief mention of a game and various beasts but never elaborated what it pertained to or why they were keeping me." She was starting to shake and feel weak. It hurt to stand and she felt like she was going to vomit.

Stein's eyes narrowed in thought. "When were you caught by your torturers?"

"I'm not sure, I lost track of time down there. Maybe a week ago?" Her response was soft as she was clinging to the last shred of consciousness; the last bit of strength she had. Knees feeling weak, she gripped the bark of the tree with her nails.

"That would have been the same time that all of us were caught and brought here." The professor mused before asking another question. "How did they get you?"

Her words were becoming mumbles as her thoughts were muddled. "I… I was supposed to meet Crona." She trailed off for a moment, breathing shaky and unsteady. "But Azura showed up. I couldn't use my magic due to my soul protect. He bound me in his bandages, tightening them till I was nearly unconscious. After that he used a pressure point and I was out. When I woke up I was in a cell underground with little to no light." Her eyes were starting to slip closed and her brows furrowed. "What… What about you?" She breathed out faintly.

"The students were trapped in the new arcade and gassed. The staff was told there was a meeting but we also got locked in and gassed. When we awoke we were in the middle of nowhere. Eventually our two groups ran into one another- are you alright?" He stopped mid-sentence as it seemed like she was barely hanging on; ready to collapse and pass out at any moment.

"Of course she's not you dim-wit! Just look at her!" Spirit snapped at his old friend, still completely shaken up by the whole thing.

"I'm f-fine," She insisted. "Just a little exhausted…" She trailed off. "I- I just-" Her eyes rolled back in her skull and her body went limp, collapsing.


	8. Chapter 8

The doctor immediately lunged forward to catch her as she lost consciousness, pulling her to his chest. She had sustained many injuries before but this was the most severe he had ever seen on her. It felt to him like something was different this time; she should have been recovering faster; at least by a little if it was only beatings and mutilation. He had no real knowledge of what else she had suffered through in the underground chamber for a week. A mildly familiar scent drifted up to his nose over the smell of blood she was drenched in. His brow furrowed and he looked closer at the cuts along her sides that still bled at an alarming rate. There was discoloration with an almost chalky texture to her skin. There was no way…

"What is it Stein?" Spirit asked behind him. The red-head had been watching quietly, allowing his old friend to deal with the witch. Of all the people in their group Spirit knew Stein was the best person to deal with the witch, understanding the way that she operated was something the scientist could relate to in some way.

"This is bleach. They dumped bleach into these gashes on her sides. Not only that but there's a bit of a gritty texture here that I believe is salt. Unless I do something to close these, she's going to bleed out -possibly within the next five minutes." The stitch-covered man made his assessment, checking the woman's pulse and breathing. The steady rise and fall of her chest was reassuring but the ragged quality of her breathing itself was alarming.

" _Holy shit!_ " Soul exclaimed, slightly startling his partner and the two instructors with his outburst. "They put _bleach_ in 'em?"

The scientist nodded and the deathscythe was amazed. "She went through a week of torture like that and still managed to get out, suffer extreme blood loss, evade us, and was _still standing_ long enough to have a conversation when we found her. How is that even possible?" He was answered with a shrug of puzzlement.

"I wish I knew. But she won't be waking up if I don't close these." The doctor reminded them, looking at his colleague and students for approval to patch the her up.

"She might know some information we could use I guess, do what you have to." Spirit approved, seeing the look in Stein's eyes. Whether his friend wanted to admit it or not, the witch meant something to the mad scientist and Spirit could see it. He wasn't sure what it was, but he would wait; he wouldn't take it away from his old friend -whatever this was.

"Alright, give me your water." Spirit complied with the man's order and handed the bottle of water to the surgeon as he crouched down, laying the snake witch carefully on the forest floor. Quickly, he rinsed the bleach and salt from the slashes on her sides. Knowing he didn't have enough thread or time, he placed his hands on her torso and mended the open wounds using his soul stitches. At this, he could sense surprise from his comrades but he dismissed it for the moment. Producing a roll of medical bandages from one of the deep pockets on his lab coat, he hurriedly yet neatly wrapped her torso from under her bra to her hips. Gently, he lifted the woman's unconscious form. "Let's go, we should re-group." With that the small band of DWMA members made their way back to meet with the rest of their comrades.


	9. Chapter 9

When Medusa woke, the first thing she registered was the sound of shouting. Brows pulling together, she forced her eyes to open, the world around her blurry for several moments. After blinking to get the movement back in her eyes, her vision started to clear up. Where was she? Everything hurt. It hurt to move. It hurt to stay still. It hurt period. She was leaned against something. Had they just left her there? That was a bit cruel for people morally inclined. As she finally was able to focus and process everything flooding her senses she realized she was where the entire group of DWMA members had gathered. A tapered groan slipped out from between her slightly parted lips as she tried to push herself into a sitting position on her own. Everything was on fire. This small movement proved to be extremely challenging. Everyone in her line of sight was involved in some sort of massive argument.

"What's going on here?" She croaked out, observing the chaos.

The quarreling paused and all eyes turned towards her. Uncomfortable with the sudden amount of attention she had drawn to herself, she refrained from fidgeting. Whispers and murmurs traveled through the group. The witch blinked at them, why on earth were they arguing with one another at a time like this? Surely, it couldn't have anything to do with her well-being. The stitched form of the professor stepped away from the group and paced over to her. Marie called out to him but he paid her no mind as he crouched down before the witch.

"You're up." He commented in his usual monotone. It was comforting to hear his voice and see those stony green orbs staring at her in that flat, yet piercing way.

With a grunt she attempted to straighten her posture, grimacing as she moved. "I am indeed. I suppose I have you to thank for that?"

The tiniest of smiles tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Yes. Can you stand?"

"Only one way to find out." She replied, hating herself for agreeing, catching that smirking look in his eyes. He backed away to give her room to stand. Pushing herself up was torture. _You're halfway there, come on!_ She growled and barely managed her feet, the change made her head swim. She blinked several times, trying to ward off the dizziness. Standing was complete agony, but she refused to give in. The doctor looked back to his companions. Marie sighed, appearing distressed.

"Fine, you win." Marie bowed her head in defeat, and several other group members seemed to give up as well.

Spirit appeared indifferent as he announced to everyone. "Alright, she comes with us."

The snake woman's eyes widened in surprise. They were taking her with them? It had to be for information, she realized. As they all began to move past her and trek on, she found herself being left behind. Only Stein remained with a brow raised towards her.

"Are you coming? Or do I have to carry you?" He teased her with a lopsided grin.

Not sure whether she wanted to scowl or smirk back, she settled on a deadpan expression. Forcing herself to take a step, she immediately regretted her choice. Pain shot up her leg as soon as her foot made contact with the ground. A cry escaped her as she fell to her hands and knees, a tightness in her chest. She had almost forgotten about the bullet to the leg she had taken. He must have missed that when he patched her up. The professor watched her with mild concern as she struggled to drag herself of the ground. Unfortunately, she was too drained to manage her feet again. Sides heaving, she stayed where she was. Footsteps moved towards her, and suddenly she was in the air. Strong arms lifted her, under her legs and around her back.

"You could have just asked. You'd better not pull those stitches." He warned with a bored sigh as he carried her.

" _Thank you_ …" She breathed softly so that he barely heard the statement. He was stunned; she rarely said thank you. At least in a sincere way that is. Her head rested against his chest and he paused to glance down at her. Was he hearing things? "I'm not going to repeat myself." She murmured, the edge taken off by her tired tone. A small chuckled rumbled through his chest and he resumed walking, easily catching up with the rest of the weapons and meisters. He didn't expect any less of her.


End file.
